You Sure Have Your Hands Full

Anytime me and boys go out in public, I always hear "You sure have your hands full". I never really know what to say. I always just grin and say yes I do and then wonder why they made that comment. I know I have three kids under the age of 5 but I still think I am handling things pretty well considering. After hearing it a million times I have started to wonder if I really look that frazzled.

This past Friday when I was in Shreveport, I got to visit with my cousin Cheryl, who know lives in Ohio. Cheryl and I were talking about how strangers comment on kids and the different things they comment on. I told her that the "hands full" comment was probably the most popular comment that I get. Cheryl shared with me that she read how someone grew tired of hearing that comment and she has started saying to people "My you are very blessed." That hit a chord with me. I have been blessed with three sweet, precious boys. My hands aren't full, my cup runs over. So I decided then and there that my response to all those "hands full" comments would be "Yes I am very blessed".

After we all (my mom, sister, aunt, and two cousins) split up and went our separate ways, I had to run by LifeWay before I headed back home. We got what we needed in LifeWay and was loading everyone up in the van, and a lady came around the back of the van and said "Boy, you sure do have your hands full". My response "Yes, I am very blessed!" :)

Vacation 2008

Last week, we went to Arkansas for my cousin Jody's wedding. Kevin took off a few days so that we could visit family and do a few touristy things, which we called our vacation. We had my older sister's son, Wyatt, for the week. Here are some pictures from the trip. Hope you have as much fun looking at the pictures had we had making the memories!


Saturday
Eli was one of the ring bearers at the wedding. Here is a picture of Eli, Jody, and Samuel- the other ring bearer.

Isn't he handsome!

Sunday
We spent he night with Kevin's parents in Bryant. But due to their schedule, we weren't able to attend church with them. So we took the opportunity to visit with some old friends. We went to church in Benton with our good friends, Mark and Kim Hall. Mark and Kim played a big part in getting Kevin and I together. Of course the Lord had more to do with it but He used Mark & Kim. We haven't seen them in several years but you would have never known it. We just picked up where we left off!

Kim and I were best friends in college.

Mark & Kim's children
Bailey (entering 1st grade), Trace (almost 4), and Madison (entering 2nd grade)

Little Rock Zoo

After lunch with the Hall family, we went to the Little Rock Zoo. I was very excited that I found coupons for the zoo in the Little Rock yellow pages! One free children's admission with each paying adult. Saved us $12! I love deals!!

Can you tell by the red faces that it was a hot day?

Luke wanted to see the Elephants. Eli wanted to see the Monkeys. Wyatt wanted to stay away from the flying pest that stung him on the chest at one of the monkey exhibits. Seth wanted to see the back of his eyes. He slept the whole time.

Monday

We went to Hot Springs to spend time with Kevin's sister. Christi, Charlie, and Will have season passes to Magic Springs. On one of their earlier trips to the amusement park, a thunderstorm caused the park to close. When this happens, everyone that is there at that time gets a Sunny day complimentary ticket. The Zumwalts were generous enough to give their three Sunny day tickets to us. So with those three Sunny day tickets and a $15 off general admission coupon from the Sunday paper, the Dickeys plus one were able to enjoy a day at Magic Springs at VERY low cost!Magic Springs isn't the Magic Springs of mine and Kevin's youth. It now has a nice water park called Crystal Falls. We spent most of time there.

Christi, Will, and Wyatt going down one of the kid water slides.

Wyatt under one of the many water sprinklers.

Eli called these water falls "showers"Luke shooting the big water gun. We got the park somewhere around 12:30 - 1:00. That is Luke's nap time. He was SO sleepy but never took a nap (we left the park at 7:30). He was a clingy most of the day due to the lack of nap but was very good despite the fact he didn't have a nap. His favorite activity was the lazy river. He would have stayed on that tube all day! He rode a few rides but not many. His most exciting ride was the log ride with Kevin and Eli.

Charlie and Will

Big Bad John Roller Coaster! Lots of screaming and giggling from the boys!

Seth's favorite ride of the day - his stroller!

Tuesday and Wednesday

We went to Magnolia/Emerson on Tuesday to see my family and got haircuts from my sister Denise. My mom's two sisters from Shreveport/Bossier were down also. We came on home Tuesday night. Wednesday Kevin and Wyatt worked in the yard. I washed laundry!

Thursday

Kevin had to go back to work but after he came home, we went to a little creek down from our house to fish. Wyatt loves to fish and that was one of the activities that we had promised him.

The boys fishing.

Seth finally awake for an activity!

THE BIG CATCH OF THE DAY!

Friday

My younger sister, Ashley, had Wyatt's sister, Karaline during the same time period we had Wyatt. So we met, Ashley, Karis, Karaline, and my mom in Shreveport for my mom to take her Arkansas grandkids back home.

I think after having Wyatt for the week, Kevin and I are ready to adopt a 12 year old! He was lots of help to both of us. He helped Luke get dressed, buckled Luke into the car seat, helped load and unload the luggage, feed Seth a bottle going down the road, and helped with yard work. Wyatt is a very sweet boy and was really good with our boys. We were glad to share our little vacation with him!

All six of the Waller Grandchildren
Luke (2), Karis (9 mo), Wyatt (12), Karaline (8), Seth (4 mo), Eli (5)

Old Recipes

In about 6 weeks or so, Kevin and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. As is customary these days, we had several wedding showers leading up to our big day. Kevin's sister, Christi, gave us a kitchen shower in Hope, AR and asked all those invited to write down their favorite recipe and share it with us. We gathered up all the recipes cards and packed them up with all the nice gifts. But somewhere in all the hustle and bustle of wedding plans, moving, and all the other things going on, the gifts made it to our place but the recipe cards got lost and were never found ..... until this weekend.

We took some time off for a mini vacation that coincided with my cousin Jody's wedding. (pictures of wedding and vacation activities will be up in a few days) The last leg of our journey was to my parents' house. Any time we visit my parents, my mom always sends us home with food and/or household items that she finds on sale. She is a very giving person. Well last night after we get in, I am unloading our "Granna" items and I see a ziplock bag. I pull out the bag and see that it has recipe cards inside. I thought Momma had written down some recipes for me because while I was there, she was writting out recipes to share with her sisters that were also there visiting. But when I opened it up, I saw a recipe for a Twinkie Cake from the kitchen of Kim Otwell. Kim and I were best friends during college. I was puzzled as to why my mom would had a recipe from Kim Otwell. For one thing Kim goes by Kim Hall now (and has for the past 10 years). Plus Kim doesn't live around Emerson anymore. As I started looking through the rest of the recipes, I noticed names of people on the cards were from the Hope area. Then I realized that the recipes from my Hope Kitchen shower had finally been found 12 years later! I now have several new recipes to try. The majority of the recipes are for desserts. So if you see my family gaining weight you will know why!!

Yucky Fever, Sore Throats, and Coughs

This past week the older boys have been under the weather. Eli started running a low grade fever last Tuesday and by Wednesday had a severe sore throat. I took him to the doctor on Friday. He had some sort of infection in this throat but it wasn't strep. He continued to run fever through this past Saturday. Sunday he didn't run any fever so he got to go to VBS!

We all went to VBS Sunday night and came home and discovered Luke was running fever. Monday he sat in my lap most of the day. When Luke is still, there is something wrong. He had a higher fever than Eli and I had a horrible awful cough. I took him to see Dr. Delisi on Tuesday and he conformed what I thought, Luke had croup. Dr. Delisi put him on 5 days worth of orapred (prednsolone) and zithromax. It is amazing how fast the medicine worked. By Tuesday night Luke felt better. He still isn't back to a 100% put he sounds better and is fever free.

We are very blessed to have a Christian doctor, Dr. Craig De Lisi, that handles our family healthcare. Dr. De Lisi is a family practice doctor in Pittsburg. His practice has a high percentage of pediatric patients. I think people mistake him for a pediatrician because he has 7 children of his own! Dr. De Lisi views his medical practice as a ministry rather than a job/career. He prays with each of his patients before he leaves the room. He is such a caring doctor and friend. The boys love going to him. But I really think that has more to do with the Spiderman tattoos that they get out of the treat-vending machine for being good!

Kevin and I are praying that Seth stays well and doesn't decide to get sick. So far he is doing great. I weighed him at one of the recent visits. He weighed 12 lbs 7 oz!

We are leaving this Friday to got out of town. My cousin, Jody, is getting married in Arkansas on Saturday. Eli is the ring bearer. So this isn't a good weekend for sick kids. We are also planning a couple of days of family fun after the wedding. Please pray that the older boys continue to heal and the Seth will stay healthy.

Baby Look-A-Like

Everyone says that Seth looks like his brothers. Most say he looks more like Eli than Luke, which I agree. Here are some baby pictures for you to make your decision.

Seth 3 mo. old

Luke and Eli both 2 mo. old

I am 3 months old and my how I have grown

On June 1, Seth turned three months old. That is just hard for my mind to wrap around. I can not believe that three months has gone by.

He is starting to interact with us. He is smiling really big and is starting to coo a little. He smiles the most after he has gotten his belly full is just laying on the boppy pillow. He will lay there and look at the lamp that is by the chair and just get the biggest grins he can muster. He must think that is the funniest lamp ever. He is packing on the pounds too! No more skinny baby. When we first started taking him in public when he was about 2 months old, we got lots of comments and questions about him being so small. But now, no one can tell that he was a preemie. The Lord has truly blessed his little life by making him so strong in a short amount of time. TO GOD BE THE GLORY! Our lives have been blessed as well by him and his two big brothers!

Here are some picture showing you how he has filled out over the past couple of months.

3 wks old ~ 5 lbs 2 oz.

1 month old ~ 5 lbs 12 oz.

Seth visiting his new little friend Drew the day after Drew was born.
Drew's Mom, Natasha, and I were due about 10 days apart.
Drew weighed 6 lbs 11 oz at birth.
At 7 wks old (which was his actual due date), Seth weighed 6 lbs 11 oz.

2 months old ~ 8 lbs 12 oz
Eli weighed 8 lbs 12 oz at birth. Luke 8 lbs 3 oz.

3 mo. old ~ approx. 11 lbs 9 oz
(according to the vet clinic scales!)

A 2 year old's fashion statement

These are just some of the fashion get-ups that Luke comes up with. You never know which boots or which hat he will put on. It wouldn't be a far stretch to say that Luke is a mess and half! You never know what he will be up to next. But I wouldn't have it any other way. When the Lord blessed us with Luke, he gave us a fun loving boy that loves to make people laugh.

Texas Rangers

Mother's Day weekend we took at trip to Dallas because Ivesco, a veterinary distributing company, that the vet clinic buys from, invited their customers to a weekend of free Continuing Education classes and family friendly activities. We got to go a Texas Rangers baseball game on Saturday night. Baseball isn't the most exciting event to keep the attention of a 5 year old and a 2 year old so Kevin took them for a walk. While out, Kevin bought all three boys Texas Rangers hats.

Isn't this the sweetest picture!